No more delays or its back to jail for Talwars

Fed up with the repeated adjournments sought by Rajesh and Nupur Talwar, facing trial for the murder of their teenaged daughter Aarushi and domestic help Hemraj, a CBI court on Tuesday threatened to cancel their bail if they failed to record their statements by Friday.

The dentist couple have been demanding that 14 "crucial witnesses" dropped by the CBI be summoned for recording of their testimony as court witnesses.

But the Supreme Court on Monday rejected their plea against the May 4 trial court order refusing to summon the said 14, including former CBI joint director Arun Kumar.

The SC said the accused could go to the Allahabad high court in this regard.

Giving the Talwars two days to move the high court, special judge S Lal said on Tuesday, "But they shall appear in person on the next date to record their statements, failing which their bail may be cancelled for which they will have to blame themselves."

"Even if the petition is allowed by superior courts, supplementary statements can be recorded."

Referring to the couple's application seeking a week's adjournment to enable them to move the Allahabad high court, the judge stated that "since adjournment after adjournment is being sought by the accused on different pretexts to hinder the smooth progress of the case…, the question is whether the court is obliged to give adjournment after adjournment merely on the asking of the accused".

Observing that the "court cannot be a silent spectator by leaving control of the trial to the accused", Lal said, "This court cannot give adjournment after adjournment at the drop of a hat."

To this, the Talwars' lawyer Manoj Shishodia said, "We have never sought any unnecessary adjournment to delay the trial and we are exercising the legal remedies provided under law."

Aarushi, 14, was found dead at her Noida home on the night of May 15-16, 2008. Hemraj's body was found on the terrace a day later.

The trial is at its fag end as the court has already recorded the testimonies of 39 prosecution witnesses.

During trial, the CBI had told the court the murders were committed by Rajesh and Nupur and no outsider was present in the house that night.